These WHO guidelines which were updated in 2018, are valid for any country and suitable to local adaptations, and take account of the strength of available scientific evidence, the cost and resource implications, and patient values and preferences.
The 2018 edition of the guidelines includes the re...vision of the recommendation regarding the use of 80% fraction of inspired oxygen (high FiO2) in surgical patients under general anaesthesia with tracheal intubation and the update of the section on implementation. Between 2017 and 2018, WHO re-assessed the evidence on the use of high FiO2 by updating the systematic review related to the effectiveness of this intervention to reduce SSI and commissioning an independent systematic review on adverse events potentially associated with it. Based on the updated evidence, the GDG decided to revise the strength of the recommendation from strong to conditional.
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FIELD GUIDE for staff at the central, intermediate and peripheral level
Under the theme “Stronger Together”, the campaign aims to offer information and strategies to assist communities in the region in better coping with the psychological impact of adverse events before, during and after a disaster situation. It also aims to raise awareness to reduce the stigma abou...t seeking mental health and psychosocial support.
You can download a wide range of communication material: videos, posters, radio jingles, guidebooks.
The Caribbean is highly prone to natural hazards, including seismic activity, hurricanes, landslides and floods. These events have resulted in lost lives, serious injuries and severe damage to housing and infrastructure. A single hurricane event can affect more than one island, and completely erase the gains of many years of productivity. As a result, these unpredictable hazards create disruption and have an ongoing impact on people’s lives - affecting their mental health and psychosocial well-being.
Although everyone is affected in some way by disaster events, there are a wide range of reactions and feelings that a person can experience. People may feel overwhelmed, confused or very uncertain about what is happening. They can also feel very fearful, anxious, numb or detached. People who feel safe, connected, calm and hopeful, have access to social, physical and emotional support and find ways to help themselves after a disaster, however, will be better able to recover long-term from mental health effects
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The safety of medicines in Zambia - why health workers need to take action | Produced by the National Pharmacovigilance Unit (NPVU)
Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) describes a coherent set of actions that ensure optimal use of antimicrobials to improve patient outcomes, while limiting the risk of adverse events (including antimicrobial resistance (AMR)). Introduction of AMS programmes in hospitals is part of most national action... plans to mitigate AMR, yet the optimal components and actions of such a programme remain undetermined.
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Interim Guidance, published 11 January 2021.
The cold chain is necessary to prevent damage to vaccines caused by heat exposure. However, improper use of cold chain equipment may cause damage to freeze-sensitive vaccines (i.e. those vaccines containing alum adjuvant or oil-emulsion adjuvant). Studie...s conducted in several countries with hot and cold climates show frequent occurrences of sub-zero temperatures in the cold chain. The most common cause of exposure to freezing temperature is the failure to correctly condition ice packs prior to transport. Vaccines that are inadvertently frozen lose potency, increase wastage rates and increase the risk of adverse events following immunization (AEFI). Vaccine carriers protect vaccine potency during immunization sessions and transport to outreach sites. This guidance document is intended to help inform which type of vaccine carrier to select based on local context, to maintain vaccine quality, especially at service delivery points.
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Learn what scientists look for in the different phases of a clinical trial for a vaccine. What does it mean when a vaccine trial is halted due to an adverse event? WHO’s Dr Kate O’Brien explains in Science in 5 this week
Against this background of nearly 20 years of experience of research, development and
improvement in patient safety, the role of incident and adverse event reporting, as well as the
benefits that derive from it, is still a work in progress.This document has two main purposes:
• to provide an up...-to-date perspective on patient safety incident reporting and
learning systems currently in place, including how to fill in existing gaps in these
systems;
• to provide practical guidance on the establishment and effective use of patient
safety incident reporting and learning systems.
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A toolkit for pharmacists.
Emerging data show that medication errors and adverse events cause significant harm to patients’ health and
well-being. It is estimated that the burden of adverse events due to medicines is now comparable to that of
widespread diseases, such as malaria or tuberculosis....1 The impacts of medication errors also represent a
burden for health systems, with the annual cost associated with medication errors estimated at USD 42 billion
worldwideharm
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A growing body of evidence demonstrates that hospital based programs dedicated to improving antibiotic use, commonly referred to as “Antibiotic Stewardship Programs (ASPs),” can both optimize the treatment of infections and reduce adverse events associated with antibiotic use. This document summ...arizes core elements of successful hospital Antibiotic Stewardship Programs. It complements existing guidelines on ASPs from different American organizations.
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Despite a historical association with poor tolerability, a comprehensive review on safety of antileishmanial chemotherapies is lacking. We carried out an update of a previous systematic review of all published clinical trials in visceral leishmaniasis (VL) from 1980 to 2019 to document any reported ...serious adverse events (SAEs).
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The results of a large-scale systematic review and meta-analysis have published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. This research aimed to collate all reported serious adverse events (SAE) in visceral leishmaniasis (VL) clinical trials and quantify the incidence of mortality during the first 30 day...s of therapy. The analyses, which included clinical data from more than 35,000 patients, found that mortality following treatment was an extremely rare event and serious adverse events following treatments were poorly reported.
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The recurrence of severe climate events combined with economic, social, and institutional fragilities leave El Salvador in an utterly critical humanitarian situation and highly vulnerable. Located in a disaster-prone subregion, El Salvador is among the 20 countries at the highest risk of disasters w...orldwide. The successive hydrometeorological hazards that impacted El Salvador over the past two years include tropical storms Amanda and Cristóbal and hurricanes Eta, Iota, and,
more recently, Julia. These storms profoundly affected the lives and livelihoods of almost 900 000 people and significantly disrupted health services, especially at the first level of care. In addition, the country’s exposure to earthquakes, floods, and droughts is also constant. Infrastructural and institutional limitations to deal with emergencies and
low capacity to respond to adverse events are an additional challenge, which leaves the population—particularly the most vulnerable—at even higher risk.
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Climate change is one of the most urgent challenges for people and ecosystems worldwide. The recently published sixth Assessment Report (AR6) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stresses the occurrence of widespread adverse impacts of climate change. Increased frequency and inten...sity of extreme weather events, as well as slow-onset processes cause enormous losses and damages to human and natural systems. Marginalized groups and people in vulnerable situations are often disproportionally affected. While the impacts of climate change already become more tangible and threatening, action for addressing them remains insufficient. Adaptation to climate change is, thus, becoming a necessity for governments, companies, and private citizens.
To provide practical and scientifically sound guidance on how to conduct vulnerability assessments, GIZ published its Vulnerability Sourcebook in 2014. The Vulnerability Sourcebook was used in over twenty different GIZ partner countries and provides a step-by-step guidance for designing and implementing a vulnerability assessment. It is also one of the methodological foundations for the ISO 14091:2021 standard on vulnerability, impacts and risk assessment for climate change adaptation.
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